Peter Luff, a former minister, says that schools are risking the 'self-esteem'
of left-handed pupils by not giving them the right support

Every teacher should be trained to recognise the needs of left handed children, a former minister has said.

Teacher training and the national curriculum should be overhauled so that children are given the space and “correct implements” to achieve the same results as right handed pupils, Peter Luff said.

The current lack of understanding is leaving the “self-esteem and self-worth” of left handed children at risk as they often end up struggling with right handed scissors or having cramped, illegible handwriting because teachers are unaware of their differing needs, he said.

The former Conservative defence minister said children were left feeling “clumsy and awkward” in the classroom and on the sports field and were not being able to reach their full creative potential.

Mr Luff has written to David Laws, the Schools minister, asking him to bring a simple set of guidelines into mandatory teacher training that takes into account the “slightly different needs” of those children who favour their left hand.

Mr Luff told The Telegraph: “If teachers are made to realise that someone is left handed, then maybe there are some things that they would want to do differently than for the rest of the class.

“Using left handed scissors, writing differently, having the mouse on the other side of the computer. In the sports room they could be taught how to use a bat or racquet in a better way.

“There are all sorts of small things which are terribly, terribly easy to put right – it’s just that teachers need to be told as part of their training to look out for those kind of kids and make sure their slightly different needs are addressed thoughtfully in the classroom.

Famous left-handers include Leonardo Da Vinci, Michelangelo, Sir Isaac Newton, Beethoven, Mahatma Gandhi, Henry Ford and Barack Obama. However Mr Luff said some children are left feeling less coordinated or creative than their peers when faced with using classroom objects designed for people who use their right hand.

He added: “Children who are using right handed scissors instead of left handed scissors and can’t cut out start thinking they are not good at art and design – but they are, they are not clumsy, they are not awkward they are just using the wrong implement.

Handwriting could be improved if left-handed children were taught to write by angling the paper properly, relaxing their arms and positioning themselves on the right side of the desk, he said.

“Changing those little things could do a lot for children’s self-esteem and self-worth.”

What hand you favour should be the first question that a child is asked when they enter a classroom so that teachers can give them the right support, he argued.

Mr Luff said that Mr Laws had received polite but “rather desultory” responses to his letters and would now appeal to David Cameron, who himself is left handed.